When Bill Freeman's condo at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vt., started to fill with smoke shortly before 2 a.m. Monday, his 13-month-old dog Oakley woke him up by sitting on his head.

"When an 80-pound dog is sitting on you, it's not comfortable," Freeman said, giving Oakley a treat inside his Chelmsford home Tuesday afternoon. "And then the smoke woke me up some more, the rest of the way.

Oakley, the 1-year old Bernese mountain dog owned by the Freeman family of Chelmsford, is happy to be back home after saving them from a fire in their ski condo in Vermont on Monday. Here, BIll Freeman, 46, and his son, Dylan, 16, show their appreciation. Watch video at lowellsun.com. SUN / David H. Brow

Freeman and his 16-year-old son Dylan had arrived at the mountain for a ski trip Sunday while his wife, Stephanie, and other son, Justin, were in Florida for Dylan's Brandeis University baseball game.

Their condo, where Freeman's parents live during the winter, is directly above the one where Vermont State Police say a heating appliance likely started the blaze that destroyed the 36-unit Mountain Side Drive building and caused around $2 million in damages.

"There is nothing left of that entire building," Freeman said. "The steel stairwells all show in the front and look pretty, but there's nothing behind."

Once Oakley woke him up and Freeman noticed the smoke filling the condo, he woke up his family and called the Fire Department.

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Fire departments from five nearby communities and state investigators responded to the blaze, along with Warren's volunteer firefighters.

The building didn't have sprinklers, and the alarms in the condos didn't start going off until after firefighters arrived, Freeman said.

Once firefighters were there, they had to battle extreme cold, mountain winds and a lack of water supply, along with the flames, according to state police.

"And the first ladder truck there broke down," Dylan Freeman said.

Oakley sat on her master's head to alert him their ski condo was filling with smoke. The dog is being hailed a hero. SUN photos / David H. Brow

"They had no way to get to the fire, except the creek. There's a little creek behind the building, and they had to stand on it and shoot up."

The Freemans stayed with a friend down the road after the fire, while Sugarbush staff turned the resort's restaurant into a shelter for other displaced residents and guests.

Bill and Dylan hadn't unpacked yet, so they were able to grab most of their bags and go. Bill's parents, Tewksbury residents Bill Freeman Sr. and Marie, lost more of their belongings, including a computer and medicines.

They couldn't salvage Oakley's food and other supplies, so the dog was treated to a special hero's breakfast Monday morning: a bacon and egg omelet, cooked by the restaurant's chef.

Oakley, the Bernese mountain dog that saved her master and his son from a Vermont fire, frolics in her Chelmsford backyard on Tuesday with owner Bill Freeman. Watch video at lowellsun.com.

The Freemans got Oakley through dog breeder Dayna Merrow, who said Bernese mountain dogs are particularly intuitive. Most dogs of any breed, she said, will try to let their owners know when something is wrong.

"The fact that they were responsive to her being so upset saved a lot of lives," said Merrow, who now lives in Illinois but was based in Maine when she sold Oakley to the Freemans. "Dogs don't get upset for no reason, most of the time."

Merrow called the Freemans one of her "favorite puppy families" and said she made sure they'd be a good fit with Oakley.

"They're so appreciative to have her in the first place, and to have her be a hero and save all those people... They were able to get everybody out, and nobody was hurt, so that was kind of a big deal.

Bill and Dylan Freeman play with their heroic Bernese mountain dog Oakley in their Chelmsford home.
SUN/ David H. Brow

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